Rashesh Shah is a sweet talker; he wanted to usurp the studio, which was setup for small and big movie makers. I called him 100 times and he didn’t respond. In fact, he filed a cheque bouncing case with the EOW, NCLT [National Company Law Tribunal] and Debt Recovery Tribunal and tortured me immensely,” an audio clip by art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai states, revealing his harrowing state of mind, before he decided to take his own life.

The Raigad Police have found 11 such voice notes from his phone, in which Desai speaks about Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company (EARC) chairman Rashesh Shah and other officials, and how they allegedly tortured and misguided him, even though he requested for a one-time settlement. “These murderous people are trying to kill a Marathi artist. They have compelled me to do something I never thought [I would do],” the clip goes on to state. The police has recorded 15 statements in the case so far, and Desai’s wife Neha has corroborated his ordeal.